Flashcards on Social Class and Crime (1.8)

Question	Answer
What two sources are used to understand the relationship between social class and crime?	1. Official statistics. 2. Self-report studies.
Official statistics indicate that most people convicted of indictable offences have what sort of backgrounds?	Lower social-class backgrounds.
According to the Prison Reform Working Group, what percentage of prisoners were unemployed prior to their imprisonment, what percentage were homeless, and what percentage had been raised in care?	67% were unemployed, 32% were homeless and 27% were raised in care.
However, these sorts of statistics do have their limitations. Why?	Because they don't offer direct measures of the relationship between class and crime. Instead, they only include those who have been convicted and imprisoned.
Why does the fact that the statistics only detail the social class of those convicted and imprisoned make them less useful?	Because crimes that are more likely to be conducted by the middle class (e.g. white-collar crime) are less likely to lead to convictions and imprisonment.
What is an alternative to the official statistics used to measure the relationship between class and crime?	Self-report surveys.
In recent years, there has only been one study that has examined the issue of class and crime. What is the study called?	The Offending, Crime and Justice Survey.
The study analysed the independent effects of a number of variables on offending and drug use. What did it find?	The social class of the family is not significantly associated with the likelihood of offending and drug use.
A number of alternative factors seemed to have a stronger link to crime than social class. Give examples of these alternatives:	1. Single-parent families. 2. Inconsistent parental discipline. 3. Attending a 'bad' school. 4. Having a relative of friend who has been in legal trouble.
From these findings, it is possible that rather than being linked to social class influences, what may crime actually be linked to?	Social control influences. Social class influences merely relate to one's chance of being criminalised.
However, why can the nature of the sample used in the study be criticised?	The majority of the sample were aged between 10 and 25, so the results reveal little about adult crime.
Most theorists assume that, for whatever reason, the working class do indeed commit more crime than the middle class. There are generally two explanations for this. What are they?	1. The material explanation (crime is related to inequality of income). 2. The cultural explanation (crime is related to attitudes, values and lifestyle).
Which sociologists provide evidence in favour of the material explanation to crime?	- Karl Marx. - Robert Merton. - Albert Cohen. - Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin. - John Lea and Jock Young.
Karl Marx associated crime with which group?	The 'lumpenproletariat' - working-class, unemployed individuals who are dehumanised due to their lack of employment and subsequently turn to crime.
In agreement with Marx, David Gordon argues that capitalism generates what sort of criminogenic mentality?	A 'dog-eat-dog' mentality that justifies offending if it means getting what you want.
Another explanation of crime comes from Robert Merton, who discussed the relationship between materialistic factors and culture. According to Merton, crime is the result of what?	Anomie - an overemphasis on societal goals and lack of emphasis on following the legitimate and legal means of achieving said goals.
Why does Merton believe the working class are more likely to turn to illegitimate, illegal ways of achieving?	Because they have restricted opportunities to succeed.
However, this does not explain why we do have middle-class offenders. How does Merton explain their desire to commit crime?	He states that there is no upper limit on achievement - some people always want more. As such, even middle-class people can choose to offend.
Which sociologist developed Merton's theory?	Albert Cohen.
Cohen placed more emphasis on cultural factors. When studying delinquent boys, what did Cohen notice about much of their crime?	It was mainly non-utilitarian and often occurred in groups or subcultures.
Based on the type of crime being committed, Cohen concluded that the behaviour could be explained in terms of what?	'Status deprivation' - the lack of respect.
Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin also developed on Merton's idea. What concept did they discuss?	The concept of illegitimate opportunity structures - that is, opportunities that allow individuals to achieve though deviant and/or criminal behaviour.
Illegitimate opportunity structures may lead to the development of what?	Criminal and conflict subcultures.
What happens to those who do not find success in either conflict or criminal subcultures?	They are regarded as 'double failures' and become retreatists.
Left realists John Lea and Jock Young argue that it is not a lack of material success itself which leads to criminality. Rather, what is the primary cause?	The feeling of deprivation.
Lea and Young used the concept of relative deprivation to explain when people are most likely to offend. When is this?	When their expectations are not met and they feel as if they deserve more than what they are currently getting.
According to Lea and Young, crime can also be caused by a sense of marginalisation. How do some groups deal with their relative deprivation and marginalisation?	By creating subcultures and developing collective, criminal responses to their situation.
Despite the above sociologists' best efforts, which two sociologists argue that there is no straightforward statistical relationship between crime and material factors?	Simon Winlow and Steve Hall.
What do Winlow and Hall point out when arguing that no evidence links crime to material inequality?	In the second half of the 20th century, crime continued to rise whether the country was in recession or not and whether unemployment was high or low.
An alternative explanation for crime argues that criminal behaviour is strongly influenced by cultural factors (rather than material factors). Which sociologists provide evidence in favour of this?	- Walter Miller. - Charles Murray.
Walter Miller claimed that the lower classes in America developed a distinctive culture which was passed from generation to generation. How did this culture begin, and what did it develop into?	It began as a response to the low pay and monotony of working-class jobs but developed a life of its own, independent from the sort of work that particular members of the working class did.
Miller states that this culture has a number of focal points. What three examples did he give?	'Toughness', 'smartness' and 'excitement'.
Toughness and smartness brings status in working-class culture, while excitement involves a search for thrills as a response to the monotony of daily life. However, how are these focal concerns sometimes harmful?	They can lead to legal trouble.
Another cultural view of lower-class crime is the underclass theory. Who developed this?	Charles Murray.
According to Murray, what have the underclass developed a culture of?	Dependency - they depend on the state to provide for them in the form of welfare benefits.
Murray does not believe that poverty is the cause of crime. Rather, he believes that the over-generous welfare state is to blame. What is his solution?	To cut welfare benefits.
However, cultural theories for working-class crime are rather unconvincing. Why do Hall and Winlow criticise Miller's work?	They argue that it is extremely outdated. The traditional working-class culture Miller discusses no longer exists, having been replaced by a culture of consumerism.
Why can Murray's theory be criticised?	It has a lack of empirical evidence.
Why can Murray's solution be criticised?	Pamela Abbott and Claire Wallace argue that cutting welfare benefits would merely result in more poverty, which may actually increase crime.
An alternative explanation for the relatively high conviction and imprisonment rates for lower social classes is in relation to criminalisation. What does this approach argue?	It is the process of criminalisation that is responsible for the statistics - the lower classes are not more likely to be criminal, they are just more likely to have their behaviour defined as criminal than other classes.
In his study of two American gangs, one consisting of middle-class boys and the other of working-class boys, which sociologist found that the working-class boys were more likely to be negatively labelled due to pre-existing stereotypes?	William Chambliss.
What impact did these negative labels have on the boys?	They become more 'visible' to law enforcement and faced stricter control as a result.
Which two sociologists argue that similar processes occur in our own society?	Tim Newburn and Robert Reiner.
While people from higher classes do offend, their offending often go undetected. Why?	Because they have more opportunity to commit white-collar, corporate, state and ecological offences, which are typically harder to detect.
Marxist and critical criminologists argue that it is no accident that the crimes of the powerful go 'undetected', however. Rather, the offenders are simply protected by what?	Broader power structures.
Which two sociologists argue that because corporations have "enormous economic, political and social power", they are largely exempt from prosecution?	Steve Tombs and David Whyte.
Why are governments very reluctant to convict and imprison senior executives when they are detected?	Because of the power of the corporations and their importance to the local and national economies and employment.
It can be concluded that a full understanding of the relationship between class and crime can only be achieved by looking at which two factors?	Offending and criminalisation.

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Flashcards on Social Class and Crime (1.8)

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